Commander Dal - Someone Out There
Jamie LeBlanc
((Bridge, Deck 1, USS Rahuba))
In between the calls to engineering and the status reports coming in, Commander Ishreth Dal kept glancing at the departmental check ins. One hundred and twenty-eight crew were on the Rahuba. Thus far one hundred and seventeen had checked in as alright with only minor injuries. Stuff that could be fixed with a simple medkit.
That left eleven unaccounted for. That was eleven too many.
Dal: Overall status report?
His bright blue eyes raked to tactical, querying Commander Maxwell for more data. Outwardly he looked as cold and collected as ever. His tone still soft and formal.
Inwardly he went down a mental checklist of the damaged areas and the risk factors moving forward.
Maxwell: ?
Blackwell: Blackwell: Running a full scan of the ship, Commanders.
Dal: Thank you, Lieutenant. Commander. ::A polite tip forward of his antennae.::
Dr. Trovek crossed the bridge towards Commander DeVeau, and Ishreth tried not to get distracted. The looked she had given him when he expressed concern on Lieutenant blackwell’s head injury could have melted paint. He supposed he deserved that. He was a trained, but poor, medical officer at best.
In fact he had just enough training that it fed his deliberative personality, weighing the risks and options inwardly as a growing scale danger versus protection that was always ready to tip.
He glanced to one side. Two more check ins. Nine left. His antennae twitched.
DeVeau: Thanks, Doc.
Trovek: My pleasure.
DeVeau: From what I can tell, the anomaly hasn't moved.
If the anomaly didn’t move, but clearly was gone then… the Rahuba moved. That was the only option left in his mind.
Dal: Then where are we?
Blackwell: Oh boy…::She murmured low…waiting for DeVeau to confirm bad news::
DeVeau: If my calculations are correct, we're about two hundred thousand kilometres away from where we were originally. But it’s not so much just where…but *when* are we.
He paused, and his entire expression went grave. Not just placid and neutral, but a stony downward shift to grave.
Dal: When. ::both antennae dipped downwards, but he didn’t have any time to ruminate on that thought. Sensor alarms rang out across the bridge.:: We’re in the eye of a storm…
Blackwell: It’s gonna get rough!
DeVeau: Ionic storm hitting us from behind!
Y’zyr: I can’t estimate how long… it may be minutes before impact?
He found his feet and moved towards Y’zyr’s console to check the readings. Heavy ionic interference with electric disruption and rolling charged dust-clouds that were ripe for uncontrolled explosions. Lovely.
Dal: engineering was working on ways to bolster against the Jenatris cloud’s ion storms. We’re going to need those upgrades online.
Maxwell: ?
DeVeau: Y’zyr, Blackwell, head to engineering, help where you can.
Blackwell:::She pushed out of her console and started for the turbo lift, nodding to Y’zyr:: On it.
Y’zyr: Aye, ma’am.
He turned towards Alora and his next words were even, he was specifically trying to drain the emotion out of them. Because he had to appear in control. He had to appear unattached and focused on the big picture.
But he cared, about every single life on the Rahuba, and he was bound and determined to see them all safe.
Dal: There are nine crew still unaccounted for after the … time shift.
He hated admitting that, but the time jump was a distinct possibility. The only one that had (mounting) scientific evidence backing it up.
DeVeau: Trovek, head out and help people get to sickbay. Tito, go with her. Coordinate with Doctor Bailey.
Trovek: Will do.
Tito: Doctor, I am at your service. Where are we heading?
Trovek: Delightful, Mister Tito. Sickbay.
Tito: Very well Doctor, just tell me in what way I can help.
The doctor and the intel officer peeled off first.
DeVeau: Kasun, come with me, I could use a unique perspective.
Followed by Commander DeVeau and Commander Kasun. It left a very quiet bridge with only Ishreth and Commander Maxwell.
Dal: Commander Maxwell, anything new on the status updates?
Maxwell: ?
He paused and both antennae went straight up as he moved to see what it was at the edge of their sensor range.
Dal: Another vessel? Is it hostile?
Or a ghost ship?
He hated himself just a little bit that his first question was ‘was this thing negative or trying to kill us.’
Still, he merely asked it. He hadn’t given any orders to shoot first and ask questions later. And he wouldn’t. He would never be able to look his daughter in the face again if he ever stopped so low to become a murderer.
Maxwell: ?
Dal: Can we hail them?
Maybe that question was ‘should we hail them?’
But whoever they were, so long as they were not a ghost, were due to be caught in the same storm.
Maxwell: ?
~*~
tags/tbc
~*~
Commander Ishreth Dal
Commanding Officer
~Julian Beck
E239010ST0